. City Council awarded another contract to study flood mitigation measures at the multimillion-dollar Hamilton Stage for Performing Arts.
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At its Nov. 12 meeting, City Council approved a resolution (AR-236-24) awarding a $93,700 contract to H2M Associates for “professional architectural and engineering services for flood mitigation measures for Hamilton Stage.” The facility was swamped by Hurricane Idea in 2021.
The Parsippany-based firm outlined the scope of services in a 10-page proposal to city officials dated Oct. 28. That document is available here.
“Our understanding of the project scope includes the dry floodproofing of an existing building with exterior improvements to mitigate future flood events,” Kevin Paul, senior vice president, director-private sector architecture, wrote in the accompanying letter.
The same firm was awarded a $9,500 contract about a year ago for a flood-hardening study of Hamilton Stage.
This latest contract details four tasks:
- Construction documents – $53,200
- Construction administration – $22,500
- Schematic design / design development – $12,500
- Bidding – $5,500
The schematic design development “will review the flood mitigation report prepared previously to verify the approach and scope,” while developing an initial schematic flood plan to describe proposed mitigation measures.
The original contract called for a final schematic drawing package “consisting of floor plan describing flood mitigation measures along with a written summary describing the approach.” Final construction documents would be prepared within four weeks from the date of design development approval.
The proposal indicated the consultants will visit the site to “verify existing conditions at two vestibules to be flood protected.” About 30 feet of flood wall foundations and concrete “cheek walls” at the two vestibules will be designed to facilitate installation of passive flood barriers.
City officials didn’t respond to questions by email about the recent resolution by presstime Tuesday. We filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request with the city on Nov. 19 for recommendations and/or report related to the initial 2023 contract for flood hardening at Hamilton Stage.
The concept for Hamilton Stage dates back many years. In 2010, City Council approved $8.5 million for construction and development of the facility. That funding originally was for a 1,100-seat amphitheater on the site of the former Hamilton Laundry and to renovate the former Bell Telephone Building into a black box theater. Those plans shifted in early 2011, with the black box theater moving ahead but a 115-space parking lot instead of an amphitheater on the adjacent site, while renovations to the former Bell Building began in 2011.
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